Hand knitting appliance



P 1, 1956 H. SCHURICH HAND KNITTING APPLIANCE 5 Sheeis-Sheet 1 FiledFeb. 18, 1953 Sept. 11, 1956 H. SCHURICH HAND KNITTING APPLIANCE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18, 1955 p 1956 H. SCHURICH HAND KNITTINGAPPLIANCE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 18, 1953 p 1956 H. SCHURICH HANDKNITTING APPLIANCE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Feb. 18, 1955 w W U U L UnitedStates PatentO HAND KNI'I'IING APPLIANCE Herbert Schurich, Berlin,Germany, assignor to Karl Steinhof, trading as the firm Karl SteinhofFeinmechanik und Vorrichtungsbau, Berlin, Germany For the production oflooped fabric on a hand knitting appliance it has already been proposedto cause the latch needles which are arranged in a needle bed to performin connection with reciprocal motions of a lock out of a threadinserting position, efiected by hand, each time a withdrawal motionbehind the full play line of the knocking over bits and thereupon anoppositely directed ejection motion extending beyond the threadinserting position, for enabling the freshly formed loops to slidebackwards over the free ends of the opened latches.

It was further proposed to impart to the needles an additional rearwardor withdrawal movement directed inwardly of the needle bed to such anextent that the open latches at the free ends of the needles would beretracted into the needle guide grooves, i. e., behind the play line ofthe knocking over bits which are constituted by the front edges ofabutments provided on the needle bed intermediate the needle guidegrooves. In accord ance with this proposal, after the end of each .lockmotion transversely across the needle bed and longitudinally of the rowof needles and prior to the start of the next lock motion in theopposite direction, the thread is placed by hand and under tension overthe shafts of the needles from above the latter and close to the needlehooks provided at the ends of the needles. Thereafter, the lock isguided over the entire needle bed and thus a row of loops is formed.

In order to enable this to be carried out, there are provided on thelock a central wing cam, on each side of the latter a disengageableneedle lifter, above each of these an auxiliary wing cam and at theplace of transition between each needle lifter and the appropriateauxiliary wing cam a pawl with inclined surfaces, such that, with theneedle lifter in the operative position, the needle heels will insuccessive lock motions alternately slide over one of the pawls, theneedles being pushed out of the needle bed, and pass through below theother pawl, raising the latter pawl.

It has hitherto been necessary to employ a tensionapplying combconsisting of a weight-loaded bar provided with a plurality of hooksarranged in a row.

This straight hand knitting apparatus has the disadvantage, however,that the tension-applying comb with its attachable weight not onlyconstitutes a part of the whole appliance, which has to be separatelystored, may be easily mislaid and is thus frequently not available incase of need, but also makes manipulation more diflicult during theknitting operation, as it hangs down in the way from the knitted fabricwhich is being formed. 7

The invention consists more particularly in that in place of thetension-applying comb there are, provided at the same places in theneedle bed so-called sinkers which are so arranged as to be movable inslots of the needle bed and are offset in a step-like fashion at theforward edge (knocking over edge) in such a manner that the lower steppart is bent backward or recedes, so that, during upward and downwardmovement of the sinker the formed loops are forced downwards by saidlower step part. a V

Thus, by these sinkers not only is the function of the knocking overbits, namely the knocking over of the course of loops, fulfilled, but inaddition the function of the tension-applying comb, namely the downwardmovement of the just formed course of loops. s In order to adapt thelock to the particular features of the novel loop formation, it is ofadvantage to provide at the flat point of the wing cam a pointed partextending beyond it, which gives the needles an additional backwardpulling motion.

As the needles, in so far as they are not caught by the parts of thelock, are supported so as to be freely movable, it may easily occur inthe case of inexpert handling of the straight hand knitting appliancethat individual needles may be 'in any intermediate position and blockthe lock. In order to avoid this disadvantage, according to theinvention the outwardly facing edges of both needle lifters may beprovided with inclined surfaces, against which the heels of needleslying in an incorrect position will strike and, sliding during thefurther movement of the lock along these inclined surfaces, be thrownupwards of downwards, so that the free motion of the lock will not behindered. At the same time it is of advantage to let these inclinedsurfaces which act as a deflecting edge taper to a point, in order thatin every position a deflection of the heels is possible, 7 j Inspecially unfavorable cases it may occur, that the point of theparticular needle lifter will strike against the heel and thus notdeflect the needle. If in such a case an attempt benevertheless made tomove the clock in the particular direction, damage to the needle and theneedle bed may result, a

In order to avoid this disadvantage, according to the invention, thereis provided in each case at one of the outwardly directed edges of eachneedle lifter a deflecting element which consists of a movableconstruction element having an inclined deflecting edge and the functionof which is, that the heel either, lifting the deflecting element,passes through under it and thus arrives at one side of the outer needlelifter point, or, sliding along the inclined surface of this deflectingelement, is guided to the other side of the needle lifter point. In thisway provision is made, that the heel will never in the most unfavorablepositions, come against the outer point of the needle lifter but willeach time take up a position to the right or left of this point.

'In a special modification of the idea underlying the invention thedeflecting element consists of a sheet metal strip which is flat anddisposed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the needle litter andthe outwardly projecting edge of which is bent over at an inclinationand angle downwards in such a maner that an outer inclined deflectingsurfaceis formed, the forward edge of which is also directed at aninclination downwards and towards the point of the needle lifter. Thissheet metal deflector may according to one constructional form beconnected at the inner end by a hinge with the needle lifter, so that,on a needle heel striking owing to the motion of the lock, the heel.will according to the momentary position strike against the outer angledinclined surface and slide along ,it, resultingin the heel beingdeflected above the outer fixed arrangement is alsopossible at:..Fig'ure,l3 is a similar. section thr in thedirection of the arrowVbfv Figure 16;.

heelwill' withcertaiiityb'e preventedf'rorfi strikingagaimt the outerpoint of the needle lifter, whereby the lock u slhe b o ked:

diseases the hinge-like itaiih iitef the ziii 7 V I therinner end byonwelding to the needle lifter. For thislalr'ang' tli' deflectorwillihaveito be.rnade' of'sufiieientlyth' his nenb esneetmatehn, o that,on. th'efne'edleheel} iii: pinging'on the inclined-surfaces, eitheralateralslidin'g" off the. angularlybent ove'riinclined surface or, aslipping below ,the forward inclined edge through a' slight upwardspringing .of .the ,defl'ecteri will .takeiplzic Eufthfendetails (ifthe'inventionsh '11 nffwl b'eldes cn a; with" refereriee toconstructional examples illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings,inwhich; .t v """rj' l shf. s .a pierspectife iewof the forwardedge of the heedlekbed with-the knocking over bits according to zaiiolgiei su'ggestilon'; 1 5 Figure.) "shows diagrammatic. and alsoperspective representation a front view of the row of-needl estwithseverallformedrowsofloops and hooked-on stripping eomEaccor'dingto theolde'r propos'al;

glues show'n'in' diagra atm and perspective rep"- e s'entation a front,view of the needle bed according" to the invention with the upwardlyand downwardly moved sinker's;

figure llis a c'ross sectionthrough the ndi be and me eck;

.Figure'. 5. shows front view of the appliance n igine' inwhieh only theposition or the s'inkers and the cam piece is shown;

.FigQIC Saisaperspective view of a detail er the appli aficesnewsimgurem a nnigii e 6tshow s a partial, ide'view of a sinkerjandlth'eaw's; part-6f a cam piee, the lower ipafrt'o f whichis not curyedjin, ac irclilar are, but is' made straight-,1 I

' :as' suspended'in the" needle heads by means of the upper most row ofloops and held by the sinkers in the various stages of a separatingoperation. In the appliance of Fig. 1 forward edge 60 oftheneedlebedknocking over bits 61, between which the needles 62 move.From this Figure 1 it will be seen how thefirs t course 63. hangs to theleftover the. two needles 62 .6221 The figure also shows howQthesehondcourse; is fornied byrneans Vof tl'ie piece 7 of thread 64. Thetwo;nc.edles 65,-;66 lying to theright are retracted and it is shownhowthe'loop formation of the secon d course is produced through the threadplacing itself not only round the hooks of the needles, .b -ltfaIS Oround the forward edge 6] of the knocking over bits.

In this mode of producing the'kni tted fabric it is necessary to load ortension the fabric 70 (Figure 2,) with arw ghtfl i-r. I /ord th t; thisWe g tm y d str ut upper lc'pop s'6.8 of the last course but one. .Thisis shown V parfula' 'rly elearly in Figure l. The needles 65,66

Figure 7 shows a partial v1ew rr'om below bf .which rnainlythelower partof the wing lcani is sli'oiiv'n;

--Figu're. .8 vshows; a diagrarnrnatic view from ab forward .partof the,n'eedl'ebedtwith the Ii K h 1 enser. the needles and thesink'ers indiagrammatic p sen mk i i i regs shows a view has below are con Exampleof a needle lifter with a riveted-on deflecting eleiient'"- r .1: 0 i vlai t e a w f th r m r -F u 9 51 8 in the i i l. Bl witha ia'rtial viewTof 'anee'dleina piosition fin which the deflecting elerh'ent is raisedby the heedleheel i V,

EigureJl ,fshows a similar 'v'iew, be; with ester "asses of the needleheel with respect to" the 'd'efle ing element invwhichthe needle. heelis deflected at meterwardinclinedsurface toitherightj a l-2 is,an;elevation of a needle lifter in section along line XIL-XlI of Figure9; v

with ahinged-CnQdeflecting element;

Figure -14 shows a view from below of the lock iewed Figure 15 shows a'view from above ofrthe lock in theldirection of the arrow U ofFigure 16in which for ugh needle lifter the sake of clearness parts of the handleareomitted, and

the adju sting disc is in section along line XV+XV of j l r 3.1;. 1

. Figure .16.is an elevation and partial longitudinal section on line ofFigure 1 V i V {V Figure 17, shows a side View 'of thelock seen in theLdir'ectionofthe arrow W. of Figure 15; :7 g in: W Ei'gur e 18 isaperspective representationof the double deflector for the needle heels;e r e A Figu re l9 showsa view from above of;th e'adjusting seen indiedirection of the arrow U in Figure 116,

in which 'view the cover discis shown aspartly broken away; and 7Figures 20 to are views'of the. knitted fabric shown Wendie. ,th l ri qga q fi u t s ke n th se pp loop parts 68,1if the last course but one,63, and w ith it these' upper loop parts 68 itogether with the forwardloop parts' 69 Oilh lastfo nied course were not I drawn w ads F t,'In"con trad1s tinct:ion tothe aforesaid: construction the ghtwith thesetup conlb is entirely ayoided according to eyesig t invention. ernspurpose, in accorda e ith. the' invention,' the knocking over 'bits'filare rleplahediasi shown ii rignies, by sinkers i)" which takeofknockover bits and are arranged for. movement on the needle bed, wherein the constructional forn ht herto usual the knock over bits aredisposed. The

difi consists substantially in that, thesesinkers are 'jnot stattonarylikegth'e knockover bits 61, but'are arren g ediso as th; swing acorresponding slot guides in needle bed. in addition there are providedon the lgnoch loverfed'ges sl, 83 of these sinkers claws 8 1 in theforth of downwardly dirj'ected pointed hooks which divide the knock overages of the sinkers' into an upper knock over edge fiortioh S'Z and alower Knock over edge portioii 83'6fis'et fronftheupper portion. I I i othe loop forrnation and the setting up is perforrned by means of thearrangement provided with such 'siiilifs' so willbe s'e'enb'y referr ngto "Figure 3 showing 7 the workin'g' p pie; According to the presentinvention the forniing of the loops takes place during the sackaramovefiieii of thenee'dles; 62, through 'th'e' thread first laying'i'tsel'f rounfd the upper edges 82 of the sinkers 80. 1a the tio'n's z"tob th'e formingof the loops is exactly th sanie as with the knownarrangements with knocking r bits as s'hownin Figure *1. The differencefir'stl'oc in theposit'iond, where the respective sinker *is swungtipwar'dsg-until the claw or hook 81 hasler't the last formed loopi 8 f(-pos'ition f). Between this loop 34- a-nd the lowenl-inockingover edge'83 a free 'space'will 'thus fha e .been formed.-- This sp'aee isclosed, as the 'forwardfpart 84i of-thel1oopiisdrawn towards the lowerknockingiofvenedge :83; through .therhook T85 of the needlebeing;,drawnbackiStill further. by the distance 86. How

:tliisltakesplace willf'be described in detail below, when dealingwith,the lockgsIn the position g the sinker will again have:moyed;slightly downwards, while the needle will at the same time assume theposition 86'. The claw there are arranged at the ,the downwardly exertedpull of the weight.

81 of the sinker has in the position, g just hooked itself overtheforward part 84 of the formed loop and. during its continued downwardmovement as far as the position 1', moves the last formed loop downwardsbeyond the forward edge 60 of the needle bed. The same result is therebyobtained as was hitherto brought about by the weight, that is to say thelast course but one of the knitted fabric is not drawn downwards as inthe known arrangements, but rather forced downwards, so that the parts87 of the last formed loops are drawn tightly over the needle shanks,whereby on the needles being thrust further forward, into the position86", the latches of the needles will be thrown backwards with certaintythrough the loops sliding over them. 7

It will thus be seen that the claws 81 in this constructional formperform the function of the above mentioned set up comb with its hooksand the tensioning weight, namely, that they move the knitted fabricdownwards.

The employment of the sinkers in place of the set up comb with itsWeight has on the one hand the advantage that the whole appliancebecomes much more easy to handle. There are no parts to be stored andmanipulated separate from the appliance, such as the set up comb withits weight. The sinkers replacing the set up comb in its function are onthe contrary fixed to the appliance. Moreover, they do not, like the setup comb with its weights, constitute a bulky downwardly projected part,but take up hardly more space than the hitherto usual knocking over bitsbetween the needles in the needle bed. The appliance also need not befixed to a straight table edge or the like. It is possible to work withthe appliance in any position and even to place it on the lap. In thisthe appliance differs still more from a knitting machine and assumes astill more pronounced character of a hand knitting appliance.

A further still more important advantage of this improvement consists inthat the knitted fabric is given during the knitting the form it willlater retain, as no weights whatever are employed, which would tend tostretch the fabric and therefore pull it out of shape. Hitherto, inorder to produce articles of clothing to correctmeasurements, it wasnecessary to make a knitted sample, so as to obtain a picture of thetrue dimension, to count up the number of courses of this knittedsample, and then, While knitting, make sure by renewed counting that theknitted fabric will be given the same number of courses. According tothe new proposal this counting is no longer necessary, as no distortiontakes place. All that is required is to check during knitting therequired measurements with a rule.

Furthermore, it is not absolutely necessary to make the needle lifterscapable of being put out of operation. According to what has so far beensaid, first of all a course was formed through the thread being laid bymeans of the retreating needle hooks round the knocking over bits of theneedle bed and the comb hooks of the tensioning comb. For this reason itwas necessary first of all to put the needle lifters out of operationand, after the formation of the first course of loops, to put them intooperation again one after the other during the next following lockmovements. According to the present invention the needle lifters may berigidly fixed to the lock as the function of the tensioning comb is heretaken over from the start by the movable sinkers, so that during thefirst lock movements the first course of loops is completely formed.

Finally there is the further advantage that, even when not using firstquality yarn, the fabric will show high regularity and evenness of theloops. This may be accounted for by the circumstance that following thecomplete first loop formation the tightening of thread takes placethrough a short backward movement of the needle, as was described inphase f in Figure 3. Through this 6 tightening small irregularities ofthe tension of the thread will be corrected.

Figure 4 shows a side view of one of the sinkers and a cross-sectionthrough the needle bed and the lock guiding arrangement. The sinker hasin the rear portion a notch which is open at the bottom and acts as apivotal support. With this notch 90 the sinker engages over a wire 91which is supported in the longitudinal direction of the needle bed andacts as the pivotal point for the sinker. Towards the rear the sinker 80is provided with a guiding part 92. Into engagement with this guidingpart can be brought a cam piece 93 (see also Figure 5a) which is fixedto the lock plate 94.

The lower actually effective part 95 ofthe cam piece has a curvatureconstituting a portion of a circular are traced substantially with aradius 114 about the pivotal point 91 as centre. Through thisarrangement it becomes possible, that in all positions of the sinkerthere will be linear contact from the point 111 to the point 112 (Figure4) and not only point contact 113 (Figure 6) between the sinker and thecam piece, which would be the case, if as in Figure 6 the cam piece inits lower part 121 were not curved to a circular arc, but were madestraight. If linear contact were sought in this case as well, thecontact surface at the cam piece would have to be shaped as acomplicated undulating surface, which would present technicaldifiiculties of manufacture. Linear contact is important, however, so asto avoid overloading and consequent rapid wear.

For moving the sinker each time back into the normal position and givingit the necessary pressure for tensioning the loops, each sinker isconnected by way of a tie-rod 96 with a compression spring 97. Forsimplifying the assemblage of the parts, the tie-rod engages with acircular widening 98 in a corresponding recess in the under side of thesinker.

The front edge 82 of the sinker 80 is so curved and so displaced upwardsrelatively to the centre of gravity 91 (Figure 4), that, on being rockedout of the bottom position (full lines) into the upper position (dottedlines), the edge 82 will in the middle part recede by about the amount100. This has the advantage of a decrease in tension of the loops duringthe upward swing of the sinker.

A further decrease in tension is produced through the needles whichafter being drawn into their momentarily lowest position, are slightlyloosened.

This is brought about by the needle sinker or actuator 101 (Figure 7)having two slightly inclined surfaces 102, 103. On following the processof loop formation in Flgure 8 from right to left, it will be seen, thatfrom the position i to k the needles slide somewhat forwards in thedirection of the arrow A, so that the loop in the position 104 loosens.In the position k the thread has moved under the claw 81 of the sinker.By the triangular projection 105 on the needle sinker the needle isdrawn back sharply (position 1, Figure 8), so that the thread is drawnclose to the lower edge 83 of the sinker (cf. also position f of Figure3). In itself the needle s nker 101 might from there onward follow astraight line, as indicated by the dotted line 106, but this isinadmissible for the reason, that, during the motion of the lock in theopposite direction, the needle has to perform the same motions as on theright-hand side of the sinker. For this reason the needle sinker is madesymmetrical, that is it also has inclined edges 103, 103' to the left.Starting from the position I to the position n the needles do not movealong the dotted line 106, but follow the upper edge 103, 103 of theneedle sinker, which is due to the circumstance, that the thread tensiondraws the needles against this edgein the direction of the arrow A. Thistension is imparted to the thread by way of the preceding loops by thedownwardly moving sinkers.

To sum up it can be stated that the triangular projection 105 in themiddle of the upper edge of the needle right angle.

has object of drawin g the front; part of the 7 loop ,closely'againshthe lower edge of the sinker, in order theright-hand needle lifter 34-is provided with the two outer inclined flanks 120, 121, which terminatein a point 122.- When-the'needle heels'areinthepositions 123 abovethepoint'l'llgr 124 below the point 122, they will during movement of:the lock in the direction of the arrow D, strike against the outerinclined surfaces 120 or 121 and can be deflected by them upwards ordownwards.

Onlyjn' some few particularly unfavorable positions will the needleheels 'strike against the point 122,,as indil cated' by the position125, In this position they cannot slide off so; thatthereis the dangerof damage. In order toeliminatethese unfavorable cases, there 18 rivetedto the needle lifter the deflecting member 126 by the rivets 1 2 7 and32. Since as. a rule there are pro vided on the needle lifter anactuating pin'32for displacing the needle lifter and twoguiding pins127, 128, the pin 127 and the actuating pin 32 may serve the purpose offixing rivets for the deflecting element 126. For the guiding pin 128 acorresponding recess is provided. The forward edge 130 of the deflectingelement 126 is bent away at a right angle and extends above the inclinedsurface 120. In addition, this right angled bend is placed at aninclination in such a manner as to run about parallel to the inclinededge 120 of the needle lifter. Whilst the lower edge 131 (Figure of theright angled bend 130 runs about parallel to the surface of the needlelifter, the forward edge132 (FigurelO) is made so as to runobliquely'frorn top to bottom. The arrangement must be such that thefr'ontpoint 122 of therneedle lifter is screened; by the surface 130'whichzis bent over at a Should it occur iduring the motion of the lockin the directionof the arrow D that the roundededge of the needleheelshould by chance at the place 135 (Figure 12) strike against theedge 132 of the deflecting element 126, quitev definite forces will beexerted on this edge. In the elevation projection, as shown in Figure10, the direction of the force 136 *is perpendicular to the forward edge132 of the deflectingelement. In orderclearly to comprehend the eflectof this'force on'the'de'flecting element, let this force be resolvedinto the two components 13 7 and 138, of which one, the force 137, runsvertically and the other, the force 138, horizontally. The

vertical force 137 acts in the sense of lifting the deflecting element,whilst the horizontal force 138 is counteracted,

by the resistance forces at the:fixing place, more par ticularly at therivets 127 and 32. Similar are the force.

relations in side elevation, which is represented by Figure 12. In thisfigure '139 represents the direction of the force which is exerted bythe needle heel 143 at 135 on thefront edge 132 of the deflectingelement. This force can also be resolved intotwo further components 140,141,- of ,whichlthe vertical force 140 acts in the sense of lifting thedeflecting element.

In the position shown in Figure 10 this lifting force 137 need only berelatively small, .as the edge 132 has to belifted only by the amount142, in order'to allow the heel 143 of theineedle to pass through underthis edge-until it. strikesagainst the inclined surface 121'and thereslides along in the direction of the arrowF.

Should the needle heel 123, however, be in' a position further to theright according to Figure 11, there will still be anupwardlydirectedcomponent 137 of the force. This:componentwould,however,in the position shown in Figure 11 not be sufficient to:lift the deflecting element through' the considerably greaterdistance144, which W 4 bj S IXJQPe P t e ne d h t P thrbszwn s thi t e?l; h n edl he w l t e fore move along the forward surface 130 of thedeflect purely diagrammatically in Figure, l3 7, V v

According to an older-proposal, the accurate adjust-v relatively greaterror.

V e 7 eeeeiz'rs possible position. The needle heel will be deflectedeither to the right or. to the left from the point 122.. V

In the constructional form of'Figure 13.theriveted connection 127 isreplaced; by ahinge 146. Inorder V to obtain the efiect of the springforce, namely the limitation of the upward motion of the deflectingelement. on

striking the needle heel, there is providedjin this case,

where there is no 1 spring force, a stop 147', as: shown ment of the.loop density takes place after the releaseof .a milled nut bydisplacing the needle sinker in a slot. 7 For accurate adjustment an:index was provided, which moved along a scale. Accurate adjustment isfrequently not obtainable with this arrangement, for the reason that itdepends greatly on the carefulnes s of the worker.

Accurate adjustment is of special importance, where in making two.similar knitted articles with the same number of courses it is desiredto' obtain the same length and between the knitting of the two parts'the'loop'densi-ty has been altered. When, rafter finishing one piece, forinstance the sleeve, the second sleeve is to be knitted, it is necessaryto use the greatest accuracy to ensure the size of loop, when making thesecond piece, exactly the 7 same. as with the first piece. Otherwise thesecond piece would be shorter or longer. In such case particularly greataccuracy is essential, since even verysmall errors will, owing to thegreat number of courses, add. up to Thus, diiferences of a fraction of amillimetre in the adjustment of the'need le sinker'may amount in thefinal result to differences of several. centimetres'in the length ofsleeve, as in'the case of the length of a sleeve it is on the average amatter of 200 to 300 courses of loops. i A further disadvantage of theadjusting arrangement according to the older proposal consists in thedanger of the clamping screw working loose, so that undesirable changesin the loop density may occur, while knitti'ng'is proceeding, whichfrequently go entirelyunnotic'ed forarje noticed too late. 1

These disadvantages are avoided according to thepresg 2 cut inventionthrough the adjustment of the necdlesinker being effected by a slidingcam drive of a rotatable disc. For this purpose the guiding piece 54(Figure 14) of the needle sinker 101 is provided with a pm 107 which onthe front side of the lock plate 53 engages in a spiral cam 108 of arotatable disc 109. As may be seen'from Figure 1 6, the spiral camthere'is constituted by the outer peripheral surface or edge of a recess109a formed .in that side of the adjusting disc 109 which faces'the lockplate 53. Along the surface of the spiral cam notches or groovesllla'are provided at regular intervals. The pin 107 'of the needlesinker is pressed against the spiral cam through a helical spring laidround the guiding piece 54. This helical spring 115 is disposed at therear. side of the lock plate in the free space between the lock plateandthe needle sinker 101. The hookshaped ends of the helical spring 115 arehooked :into notches 116 in the form of circular segments punched out ofa bar 117.

The adjusting disc 109 is supported so as to be capable of rotatingabout "a pivot pin 1 1 8 fixed-in the centre 'of the lock plate, 53. 7Upon rotation of the adjusting disc 109 in the direction of the arrow p,the'pin 107,-sliding along the spiral cam 108, will successively enterthe separate notches 11141. By this means the needle sinker is movedstep by step "inthe direction of the arorw q.. ;1,.l f t m t P s t ofheediu ng sc 109 at any time visible from the outside, there are thatthrough the I arranged in a depression 150 on the trout side of theadjusting disc numerals 1 to 10 in a circle so as to correspond inposition to the individual notches. This depression is covered to theoutside by a cover plate 151 which is fixed to the pin 1 18 by a screw152 in such a manner that it does not take part in the notation of theadjusting disc 109. At one place in the cover disc is a circular window153 (Figure 19) in which, on the adjusting disc being turned, thenumerals will appear and thereby indicate, in which position the needlesinker 101 happens to be.

Through this adjusting device operating with notches an indication isgiven'in a positive manner, that always re-occupies exactly the sameposition, so that the abovedescribed differences in the production of aknitted article, through inaccurate adjustment to a definite width ofloop, will no longer occur. A further advantage of the novel adjustingarrangement resides in its convenient manipulation. There is no longerany exact and troublesome adjustment of the needle sinker requiringunder certain circumstances the use of a magnifying glass. The needlesinker snaps automatically into the correct notch position each time.Finall any unintentional displacement during knitting is excluded.

In the hitherto usual constructional form the needles could only berendered inoperative by being pushed downwards, as the auxiliary needlesinkers 43, 44 filled the upper part of the lock plate to such an extentthat at this place there was insuflicient room for the needle heels toslide past. In the novel constructional form the individual parts of thelock are placed together more compactly, more particularly the auxiliaryneedle sinkers have less width, so that between them and the upper edgeof the lock plate there is suflicient space for the passage of theneedle heels. The needles can thus be put out of operation both by beingpushed downwards as well as upwards.

On the other hand, sufficient space can be obtained above the auxiliaryneedle sinkers for the passage of the needle heels by widening theneedle bed and to a corresponding extent the carriage of the lock aswell.

For normal knitting it would suflice to put the needles out of operationin the lower position only. The possibility of putting the needles outof operation in the upper position as well has been found to be ofimportance, when stocking heels are to be knitted with the hand knittingappliance under consideration. For this purpose it is necessary, afterfinishing the stocking leg, to put the needles lying at both sides ofthe leg part out of operation by displacing them upwards. This appliesto those needles which are not required for forming the stocking heel.Only about half the needles occupied by loops and lying in the middle ofthe knitted piece are in operation. When knitting with these stilloperative needles, each time after the completion of a stroke of thelock motion one needle is additionally put out of operation alternatelyon one side and then on the other. In this way work proceeds until aminimum width is reached, whereupon alternately in the opposite sense onone side and the other the needles are put in operation again, until thesame width of knitting is reached as that at the commencement of thestarting of the heel. In this way the usual pocket-shaped heel isfiormed. After finishing the heel, all the needles are again put inoperation and, by continuing to knit, the foot part of the stocking iscommenced.

This putting out of operation of certain needles into the upper positionprovides the further possibility of producing patterns, through needlesin regular succession, for instance each alternate needle, being pushedby hand into the upper inoperative position. In this position individualcourses of stitches are then knitted by pushing the lock to and fro.Thereupon, the previously inoperative needles are returned into themiddle operative position, the so-called insertion position, andknitting proceeded -10 with in the usual way. .The known cardiganproducedin this manner. V

In order to prevent the needles which are in the upper or lowerinoperative position and therefore within the range of the lock fromgetting between the individual lock parts through unintentionaldisplacement, at bar is provided at the lower edge of the needlelifters33, 34 (Figure 14) and a bar 117 is provided at the upper edge of theneedle lifters 4'3, 44, which bars extend from one end of the lock tothe other. The needle heels can strike against these bars. They areprevented by these bars from penetrating unintentionally into theseparate channels of the lock.

As the needle heels in the constructional form under discussion can bebrought both into the upper as well as into the lower inoperativeposition, there are danger points on each side of the lock in the regionof the needle lifters on the one hand and of the auxiliary needlesinkers on the other hand. Even if these needle lifters and needlesinkers should be made wedge-shaped towards both outer sides of thelock, unfavourable cases may occur, where the needle heels strikeagainst the wedge point and would block the look. For this reason thedeflecting elements are used, such as were described with reference tothe previous constructional example.

For the sake of simplicity these deflecting elements are constructed asdouble deflecting elements which are fixed in the middle between the twobars 155, 117, each by two screws 161, to the lock plate 53 in such amanner that the two flat parts 162, as shown more particularly in Figure17, extend obliquely downwards towards the two free ends, so that theycan yield flexibly, when the needle heels strike against the inclinededges 167. The surfaces 130 extending perpendicularly to the surface ofthe lock plate are so arranged with respect to the wedge po nts of theneedle lifters or auxiliary needle sinkers that the rear edge 164 ofthese surfaces 130 practically coincides with these wedge points. Thereis a variation as compared with the arrangement according to theinvention described with reference to Figures 9 to 13 in so far as inthat case this surface 130 (cf. Figures 9 and 10) extends backwardsbeyond the wedge point 122 and proceeds for a certain distance parallelto the upper obliquely rearward-1y extending wedge edge 120.

According to a further idea forming part of the invention, the actuatingknobs 3 1, 31a of the needle sinkers are not placed next to the handleof the lock, but within the space surrounded by the handle (see Figure16). One advantage of this arrangement is that while knitting, theworker will not get caught on these knobs inadvertently with bits ofthread of clothing. A further advantage consists in that inwardlyextending extensions 171 of the handle may be used for the reception andguiding of the pins 172 and for catch arrangements. Not the leastadvantage is a pleasing appearance. The provision of the extensions onthe handle is also of considerable advantage for the secure fixing ofit, by enlarging the bearing surface on the lock plate. This for thefirst time provides the possibility of making the handle of artificialpressed material, without the danger of breakage.

Round the pins 172 there is a sleeve 173 which is riveted firmly intothe lock plate 53. In the middle of the sleeve there is at one place abore 174, into which a ball 175 is inserted, which is brought by adivided annular spring 176 into one or other of the two annular grooves177, so as to catch there through pressure of tension being exerted onto the actuating knobs.

The handle 170 is already connected with the lock plate 53 by thesleeves 173. An additional connection is established by the screw 179.

In order to enable the hand knitting appliance to be convenientlytransported, it may be of advantage to make the handle capable of beingfolded down or comstitches are 7 red thread end will be to the right.

lifter is capable of being put out of operation.

V pletely detachable to attach itto the lo ng narrow with flat knittingmachines.

Constructions of hand knitting appliances. are known where, even thoughsinkers are used, itis not necessary to make the needle sinkers capableof being put out of operation. It has been found, however, in practicethat the putting out of operation of the needle sinkers may be of thegreatest advantage for certain knitting opera- 'tions, this making itpossible to undo individual courses.

of stitches, whilst the knitted piece is still in the hand knittingappliance.

Thus, it is necessary for bring the needles .into the tensioningposition, that is to say into the position in which the needle heads liesomewhat behind the front sinker edges. The undoing operation is then asfollows:

The thread end 190 '(Figure 20) is, by being moved downwards in the.direction of the arrow r,' unhooked from under the hook; of the sinker191 and thereupon, as shown in Figure 21, moved upwards in the directionof the arrow s, a pnll being exerted at the same time on the thread inthe direction of the arrow 1. By this means tolefi. 11,1 th s :way anycourses can be knittedjwith anycolors. v I 7 When. starting to knit,care'must be taken that the.

beginning of one thread is fixed at the left side of the appliance andthe beginning of the thread of different color at the right side oftheappliance. 7

Through the putting out of operation each time of the correspondingneedle lifter, the total movement of the a needle is divided into twop'hasest'On one'traverse. 0f

the undoing operation, to

the loops 192, 193 lying below it are drawn upwards and be seenfrom'Figure; 22,- This produces the state,;as

shown-in Figure 20, with the sole difference, that the undoing processhas moved forward to the right by the pitch of one needle. The processof undoing is then repeated in the same manner as already described;

'A further advantage of the disengageable needle sinker consists in thatit is possible to knit with several colors, even when the change ofcolor is effected successively in an uneven sequence of numbers. Such achange of color shall now be described in detail: For instance, it isintended to knit alternately one course with white thread and thefollowing with red thread. If thejlock were not to be provided withneedle lifters capable of beingput out of operation the followingdifiiculty would be encountered: e

When knitting for instance with a red thread from left the lock takingplace, the needles are brought into the tensioning position, that is tosay into the position in which the needle heads lie 'just behind thesinkers, whilst on the return traverse of the. lock the needles will bea thrust out intothe insertion position. Thusfthie com:

plete to and fromotion of each needle, which otherwise takes placeduring-a single traverse ofthe 106 has it, were'distributed overtWOjtra-versesof the, lock, namely over one forward stroke and onebackward stroke;v In

this wayit becomse possible to bring thelock each time to that side ofthe needle bed where the thread of the desired coloris. 1 f

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the present" invention and it'is intended that suchobvious changes andmodificationsbe embraced by the annexed claims,

7 Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new anddesiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:-

1.' In a hand-operated knitting appliance having latch needles arrangedfor reciprocal movement in respective guides of; and transversely to aneedle bed, a lock arranged for reciprocal displacement longitudinallyof said needle bed, a needle actuator carried, by said lock forimparting tosaidneedles said reciprocal movement upon reciprocaldisplacement of said lock, and a'plurality of to right, then after thefirst movement of the lock, the

On moving the lock from right to left, at the same time placing a whitethread into the needles, the white thread endwill appear on the lefthand side. If the third course from left to right is to be knitted withthe red thread,'there will be no red thread'end, as it 'is ontheright-hand'side. It will be seen from this, that it will be necessaryinthis stage of the knitting operation to knit from left to right a.

so-called .odd course, that is during the lock motion from left to rightnot to knit a fresh course of stitches; This is only possible, however,when the right-hand needle The result of this will be that, whenknitting the second course, that is during the lock motion fromv right;tojlefnthe needle will remain in the tensiofiing positionCiThe needle 7response to rotation of said disc means,

sinkers, projecting partly. beyond the forward .edge. of said needle bedand arranged for oscillating'movement parallel to each otherin bottomedguide grooves, provided on said needle bed and intermediate said. needleguides,

respectively; each of said, sinkers comprising a leverwith first andsecond arms disposed at an obtuse. angle with respect; to one another,each first arm being: provided, at a first location remote from thejunction between the same and the corresponding, second arm,'with upperfand along said needle bed and transversely to said sinkers and engagingin said recesses to support said sinkers and toprovide, a common axis ofoscillation'for thesame, said front end portions of each of said firstarms being curved about said axis of oscillation of its respectivesinker, and respective spring means operatively connected to each ofsaid first arms of said sinkers'between saidre'cess and said frontendportions thereof and biasing said first arms, respectively, toward thebottoms of said guidegrooves.

v2. In' a knitting appliance according to claim '1; adjus'tment meansoperatively connected to a portionof said needle actuator for adjustingthe same transversely" to the direction of displacement thereof togetherwith said lock to thereby enable variation of the density of loopsformed by said needles, said adjustmentfmeans including: rotatable camvmeans, and resilient means urging said portion of said needle actuatorinto contact with-- said cam means, whereby rotation of said cam meanseffectssaid,adjustmentof said needle actuator.

3; Ina knitting"; appliance according. to claim 2; said.

rotatable cam means including rotatable disc means pro-1 vided with aspirally arranged cam surface, saidcam surface beingprovided withspacednotches, said portion of said needle actuator engaging said camsurface and said adjustment of said needle actuator being efiected in,

4. In a knitting appliance according to claim needle lifters carried bysaid lock and located, respectively, in the paths of movement of theheels of said needles and each provided with outwardly directed edgesand with inclined converging surfaces terminating in a point, wherebysaid heels of said needles strike successively against a respective oneof said inclined surfaces and are deflected by and along the latterduring continued displacement of said lock along said needle bed.

5. In a knitting appliance according to claim 3; deflecting means forsaid needle lifters, respectively, said deflecting means extendinglongitudinally of respective needle lifters and each being provided withan outwardly extending inclined edge, each inclined edge being bent toextend in transverse direction to its respective needle lifter to shieldthe point of said needle lifter, whereby damage to said needle bed andto said needles from contact between said points and said heels of saidneedles, respectively, is prevented.

6. In a knitting appliance according to claim 1; a cam piece mounted onsaid lock and having a contact surface arranged for sequentialengagement with said second arms of said sinkers as said lock isdisplaced along said needle bed, said contact surface being of circularcurvature with the center of curvature located on said axis ofoscillation of said sinkers.

7. In a knitting appliance according to claim 1; each of said first armsof said sinkers being provided intermediate said front end portions andsaid recess with a slot of substantially circular cross-section andhaving a downwardly facing opening which is narrower than the Widestportion of said slot, a tie-rod having a substantially spherical head atone end engaging in said slot and having a shoulder at its other end,said tie-rod extending through said opening of said slot and throughsaid lock, each of said spring means comprising a compression springinterposed between said lock and a respective one of said shoulders andeffecting said biasing of said first arm of the corresponding sinkertoward the bottom of its respective guide groove, each slot being openlaterally of its respective first arm, whereby each sinker may bedisconnected from its tie rod only by being laterally shifted along saidwire, disconnection of said sinkers from said tie-rods being otherwiseprevented.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS523,867 Powell July 31, 1894 2,329,617 Ingatlls Sept. 14, 1943 2,490,607Wood Dec. 6, 1949

